AI IN TODAY’S LIFE

Before starting about the topic “AI in today’s life” let’s understand what exactly AI is. So, AI stands for artificial intelligence which can be stated as the ability of a machine to do tasks such as reasoning, planning, learning etc. which are usually done by humans. AI has led to the digital transformation of the society. We can see artificial intelligence everywhere such as in online shopping, web searching, personal assistant bots(such as Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant), smart homes, vehicles etc. AI has become an important aspect in today’s life, be it Medicare, finance, education, etc. Let’s talk about fields where AI has become important nowadays –

1. Homes -

Today is the era of smart homes. Smart home basically means controlling your home equipment’s manually, such as controlling lights, fan, and other electronic items with your phone or by your voice with the help of devices such as Alexa, Google Home etc. Even for security purposes, cameras are infused with AI which helps in facial recognition, intruder alert(which means that the owner of the house will get a notification as soon as someone enters his/her home), etc. In todays world, smart locks are becoming beneficial since we don’t have to rely on physical keys. There is an option of giving temporary access to our guests along with many other features.

2. Healthcare :-

AI plays an important role in healthcare by making things easier and faster. Here we can refer AI as an algorithm used to mimic human cognition. What AI does is — it takes large amounts of data, analyses the pattern from the data, and gives the desired output. It is preferred in healthcare as it can save a lot of time. The main reason of AI used in healthcare is that it analyses the relationships between prevention techniques and patient outcomes. Programs which run on AI are used in diagnosis processes, development of drugs, making personalized medicine , monitoring patients etc. ‘British National Health Service’ and ‘The Mayo Clinic’ are some examples of medical institutions that have developed AI algorithms. Now more and more hospitals are looking for these types of software’s that would prove them to be cost effective, will improve patient satisfaction, and help satisfy the need of the workforce. Now we will see some more areas where AI will impact healthcare-

a) In making next generation Radiology tools — The radiological images which are obtained by machines such as CT scanners , X-Rays, and MRI machine provides benevolent visibility on how our inner body works. But today also, many diagnostic processes rely on biopsies(through which physical tissue samples are obtained), which may cause infection. According to experts with the help of AI, we will be able to make next generation radiology tools that will give more detailed and accurate results that would replace the need for tissue samples in some cases.

b) Minimizing the burden of EHR( electronic health record) usage — The developers of EHR are now making use of AI to automate health record process as the hospital authority had to spend a lot of time working on these records. Features such as voice recognition are improving the documentation process.

c) Risks of antibiotic resistance — Antibiotic resistance means when germs like the virus learn how to fight against the drugs which were made for killing them .It is a threat to people around the world as it may cause many casualties. By identifying patterns of infection from EHR data, AI can warn patients about the risk even before their body shows symptoms. Also, with the help of AI more accurate alerts could be provided.

3. Finance :–

According to a prediction by Business Insider, AI will save financial institutions and banks over 447 billion dollars. Due to outbreak of Covid 19 , banks along with other financial institutions are forced to respond to customers at a faster pace than before. Here AI can help in freeing personnel along with improvement in security measures.

Firms such as ‘Bank of America’, ‘JPMorgan Chase’, ‘Kensho’ are using AI. Now let us see how AI proved beneficial in finance –

a) Loan Eligibility — Nowadays, banks and apps are making use of algorithms which are based on machine learning to check whether a person is eligible for loan or not. Along with loan eligibility, it also provides personalized options. The advantage of using AI in such areas is that it is unbiased and can take decisions more accurately and quickly.

b) Prevention of frauds — Preventing frauds is a very important field where AI helps. Since AI can be trained according to the situation , detecting frauds has become easier. AI can use previous data such as spending behaviours on different transaction instruments to find out the odd behaviour. Take for example, a particular debit card is used in a country ‘A’ and within few hours it has been used in a country ‘B’ or the withdrawing amount from a particular card is unusually high. These types of frauds can be detected by machine learning algorithms.

c) Trading — Nowadays many investors use AI bots for trading. How AI helps is — it uses large amounts of datasets available and predicts how high or low the value of a particular stock, or crypto currency will go. This is known as algorithmic trading. This is used for speedily placing a trade and generating profits. Machine learning algorithms have proved beneficial in optimizing the decision-making process of humans as they manoeuvre data and predict the market picture with high accuracy.

d) Chatbots and virtual assistants — Due to increased use of chatbots and virtual assistants in financial sector, users can now get a solution to their queries 24/7, which leads in greater customer satisfaction. This also helps in minimizing employee input , gives an increase in productivity, reduces the time and effort required, thus giving teams more time to work on long term innovating projects.

4. Education :-

We all know that how important education is in today’s life. Countries across the world are trying their best to enhance education techniques. With the ongoing pandemic, the education industry has shifted towards AI techniques. AI helps in streamlining the education process , helps in better communication with teachers and thus saves time to focus on other areas of life. Real life examples include ‘Jill Watson’ ( a virtual teaching assistant introduced the by Georgia Institute of Technology), ‘Duolingo’ (a language learning tool), ‘Thinker Math’ (a resource based on AI which helps on leaning math) etc. Now let’s see how AI proved beneficial in education –

a) In personalization — We know how important personalization is in education. With the help of AI, students get a chance to learn according to their preferences. To get the best out of education, AI can adapt to students learning speed, desired goals, and their level of knowledge, to tell the weaknesses and offer courses for their improvement, resulting in a personalized learning experience.

b) Feedback — With the help of AI, both the students as well as the teachers can get feedback on their performance. Teachers will get to know whether students are able to learn properly or not and students can know how to improve their studies and the fields they are lagging in.

c) Accessibility — AI can be a boon for students as it provides them advantage to access learning anytime, anywhere. Even if students are not able to attend schools or colleges due to some injury or any other emergency, they can get access to learning at their home. Also, it saves a lot of money as nowadays students don’t have to visit other countries for studying. They can simply study at their home at their own pace.

Challenges :-

From the above-mentioned points, it has become clear that AI has become an important aspect in today’s life. But we must not forget that there are certain issues as well –

1. For deploying or implementing AI, technical knowledge is required. But lack of technical knowledge is hindering the process of adopting AI.

2. Cost — Adopting AI can be a costly factor due to which small organizations have to struggle a lot in adopting.

3. Data storage and acquisition — For AI based systems to work properly a good dataset is required. Datasets which are not relevant may cause obstruction.

Along with these many other factors such as ethical challenges, legal challenges, lack of computational speed, responsibility issues etc. make it difficult for companies to adopt it. Slowly and slowly as the world is evolving these issues might get solved in near future and I hope that AI proves beneficial to us rather than giving consequences.